Preparation and Characterization of Ultra Thin TaN Films Prepared by RF Magnetron Sputtering

Ultra thin tantalum nitride (TaNx) films with various thicknesses (10 nm to 40 nm) have been deposited by rf magnetron sputtering technique on glass substrates. The as deposited films were systematically characterized by several analytical techniques such as X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, UV-Vis-NIR double beam spectrophotometer and four point probe method. From the XRD results, the as deposited films are in amorphous nature, irrespective of the film thicknesses. The films composition was changed greatly with increasing the film thickness. SEM micrographs exhibited the densely pack microstructure, and homogeneous surface covered by small size grains at lower thickness deposited films. The surface roughness of the films was linearly increases with increasing the films thickness, consequently the transmittance decreased. The absorption edge was shifted towards higher wavelength as the film thickness increases.